Sheldon Rd. Assocs., L.L.C. v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Bd. of Revision, 2010–1322.

• Decision Date: 21 February 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2010–1322.,2010–1322.
• Citation: 2012 -Ohio- 581,131 Ohio St.3d 201,963 N.E.2d 794
• Parties: SHELDON ROAD ASSOCIATES, L.L.C., Appellant, v. CUYAHOGA COUNTY BOARD OF REVISION et al., Appellees.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

131 Ohio St.3d 201

2012 -Ohio- 581

963 N.E.2d 794

SHELDON ROAD ASSOCIATES, L.L.C., Appellant,

v.CUYAHOGA COUNTY BOARD OF REVISION et al., Appellees.

No. 2010–1322.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Nov. 16, 2012.Decided Feb. 21, 2012.

Sleggs, Danzinger & Gill Co., L.P.A., and Todd W. Sleggs, Cleveland, for appellant.

Kadish, Hinkel & Weibel, Kevin M. Hinkel, and Rita M. Jarrett, Cleveland, for appellee Berea City School District Board of Education.

PER CURIAM.

[Ohio St.3d 201] {¶ 1} In this appeal we confront an issue of the jurisdiction of county boards of revision. When a county auditor substantially increases the valuation of property for the preceding tax year after the statutory deadline for challenging that year's assessment and then carries forward that same increased value for the current year, does the filing of a timely complaint for the current tax year also confer jurisdiction on the board of revision to consider the preceding year's valuation? We hold that the board of revision in this case not only had jurisdiction to consider the carried-forward value for the current tax year, but also had authority to consider the validity of the increased value for the preceding tax year.

{¶ 2} The property owner, Sheldon Road Associates, L.L.C., filed a valuation complaint in December 2008 that challenged the auditor's June 2008 correction of a clerical error relating to the 2007 tax year. The Cuyahoga County Board of Revision (“BOR”) issued a decision that treated the complaint as pertaining to tax year 2008; the BOR retained the corrected 2007 valuation for the 2008 tax year. On appeal, the Board of Tax Appeals (“BTA”) decided that because Sheldon's complaint was untimely as to the 2007 tax year, the BOR lacked jurisdiction. The BTA remanded with the instruction that the BOR dismiss the complaint.

[Ohio St.3d 202] {¶ 3} Before this court, Sheldon urges that the BOR had jurisdiction to reopen the 2007 assessment despite the fact that Sheldon filed the complaint in December 2008, long after the March 31, 2008 deadline for complaints that challenge the 2007 assessment. Sheldon contends that R.C. 5715.19 permits its filing because the correction notice was not issued until June 2008, after the March 31 deadline. Appellee Berea City School District Board of Education, insists that the March 31 deadline is a jurisdictional bar and argues that Sheldon could have pursued relief by filing a civil action for injunctive relief under R.C. Chapter 2723. The school board also contends that the BOR lacked jurisdiction to determine value for the 2008 tax year.

{¶ 4} We conclude that the BTA erred by finding that the BOR lacked jurisdiction. First, Sheldon's complaint was considered by the BOR with respect to the 2008 tax year, and we hold that the complaint invoked the BOR's jurisdiction to challenge the valuation for that tax year—a year in which the auditor carried forward the amended value for 2007. Second, we hold that under the particular circumstances presented in this case, the BOR's jurisdiction to determine value for 2008 also encompassed authority to determine the propriety of the June 2008 redetermination of value for tax year 2007.

{¶ 5} Because we hold that the BOR did have jurisdiction under the particular facts of this case, we reverse the decision of the BTA. We also remand to the BTA for further proceedings.

I. Facts

{¶ 6} The record in this case is sparse. Because the BTA issued its decision before the BOR certified the transcript of its proceedings, the record of the BOR proceedings is not part of the record before the court. Accordingly, in reconstructing the facts, we rely on the notice of appeal and the briefs submitted to the BTA, the BTA's decision, and the briefs and attachments submitted to the court.

{¶ 7} On June 13, 2008, the auditor of Cuyahoga County sent a letter to Sheldon announcing an “action recently taken” that “has resulted in a change to the valuation of your property for the tax year 2007” and ascribing the “reason for this adjustment” to a “clerical error.” The adjustment increased the “total market value of this parcel” from $446,600 to $1,152,000. The copy of the property record card attached to the school board's BTA brief indicates that apartments and a clubhouse were constructed on the property during 2006 and that the total adjusted value of the land and buildings was $13,206,200. The card also reflects a 15–year tax abatement on the value of the improvements, leaving only the land subject to tax. Thus, the value assigned to the land was apparently increased from $446,600 to $1,152,800 as of January 1, 2007, in order to reflect the improvement from raw land to a site suitable for the apartment complex.

[Ohio St.3d 203] {¶ 8} On December 18, 2008, Sheldon filed a complaint against the increase of valuation for tax year 2007 as announced in the June 18, 2008 letter from the auditor. The BOR issued a decision dated November 24, 2009, in which it found a value not for tax year 2007, but for tax year 2008. The BOR retained the total market value of $13,206,200—thereby apparently retaining the revised land valuation for 2008 at $1,152,800.

{¶ 9} Sheldon then appealed to the BTA. At the BTA, Sheldon filed a motion to remand, asking the BTA to send the case back to the BOR with instructions to find a value for tax year 2007. The school board filed a motion at the BTA, asserting that the BOR had lacked jurisdiction because the complaint had not been timely filed. In its decision, the BTA agreed with the school board that the BOR lacked jurisdiction. Sheldon Rd. Assoc., L.L.C. v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision, BTA No. 2009–V–4083, 2010 WL 2641805, at *3 (June 29, 2010). It overruled Sheldon's motion to remand and granted the school board's jurisdictional motion. The BTA remanded to the BOR with the instruction that the case be dismissed. Id.

II. Analysis

{¶ 10} This case presents issues of the jurisdictional sufficiency of the valuation complaint. We have held that such issues raise questions of law that we consider on a de novo basis. Akron Centre Plaza, L.L.C. v. Summit Cty. Bd. of Revision, 128 Ohio St.3d 145, 2010-Ohio-5035, 942 N.E.2d 1054, ¶ 10. Moreover, because issues of the jurisdiction of the boards of revision or the BTA implicate our own jurisdiction, we will exercise plenary authority to consider those issues without regard to whether the appellant has preserved or asserted them. Delaney v. Testa, 128 Ohio St.3d 248, 2011-Ohio-550, 943 N.E.2d 546, ¶ 15, fn. 3, citing Worthington City Schools Bd. of Edn. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision, 124 Ohio St.3d 27, 2009-Ohio-5932, 918 N.E.2d 972, ¶ 17, and Meadows Dev., L.L.C. v. Champaign Cty. Bd. of Revision, 124 Ohio St.3d 349, 2010-Ohio-249, 922 N.E.2d 209, ¶ 19, fn. 1.

{¶ 11} Although Sheldon's appeal focuses on the BTA's finding that the BOR lacked jurisdiction to question the amended valuation for tax year 2007, we begin our review with the BOR's jurisdiction to do what it actually did: to determine a value for tax year 2008. The BTA noted that Sheldon “affirms that the tax year listed on the complaint, 2007, is in fact the tax year complained of,” but ultimately held that “[i]rrespective of the reasons [for the lateness of filing,] appellant's failure to file its complaint within the period established by statute deprived the BOR of jurisdiction to consider appellant's complaint.” Sheldon Rd. Assoc., L.L.C., BTA No. 2009–V–4083, 2010 WL 2641805, at *2. In other words, the BTA held that the BOR lacked any jurisdiction, including jurisdiction to review the 2008 tax-year valuation. We begin by correcting this error before proceeding to [Ohio St.3d 204] consider whether the BOR and the BTA correctly declined to exercise jurisdiction over the June 2008 increase in the 2007 tax-year assessment.

A. The BOR had jurisdiction to entertain Sheldon's complaint as a

challenge to the 2008 tax-year valuation

{¶ 12} Based on its finding that the BOR lacked jurisdiction to consider the 2007 tax-year assessment, the BTA found that the BOR had no jurisdiction at all and directed that the BOR dismiss the complaint on remand. Sheldon Rd. Assoc., BTA No. 2009–V–4083, 2010 WL 2641805, at *3. Our plenary authority over the jurisdictional issue requires us to consider whether the BTA's ultimate disposition—outright dismissal of Sheldon's complaint—was correct. We hold that the BTA erred.

{¶ 13} R.C. 5715.19(A)(1) expressly allows a complaint against certain “determinations for the current tax year,” including “[t]he determination of the total valuation or assessment of any parcel that appears on the tax list.” R.C. 5715.19(A)(1)(d). With these plain terms, the statute permits the BOR to exercise jurisdiction over a complaint filed in December 2008 to the extent that the complaint contests the valuation and assessment for the current year, i.e., 2008.

{¶ 14} To be sure, Sheldon's complaint identified 2007 as the tax year at issue, but the identification of the year on the complaint form is not required by statute and therefore does not constitute a jurisdictional prerequisite to the BOR's initiating a review of the 2008 tax-year assessment. See Knickerbocker Properties, Inc. XLII v. Delaware Cty. Bd. of Revision, 119 Ohio St.3d 233, 2008-Ohio-3192, 893 N.E.2d 457, ¶ 10; Nucorp, Inc. v. Montgomery Cty. Bd. of Revision, 64 Ohio St.2d 20, 22, 412 N.E.2d 947 (1980). Nor is there any indication that Sheldon's challenge to the correction of the clerical error would be any less relevant to the 2008 tax-year assessment than it would be to the 2007 assessment.

{¶ 15} The school board additionally argues that consideration of the 2008 tax year was jurisdictionally barred at the BOR because the complaint, filed in December 2008, was premature with respect to the 2008 tax year. The school board concedes, however, that although R.C. 5715.19 establishes March 31 of the ensuing year as the last day for filing, the statute does not specify any...